Means for washing and the like operations

ABSTRACT

810,864. Washing-machines. DEMARET, J. June 23, 1955 [June 29, 1954; July 23, 1954 ; July 24, 1954], No.18162/55. Class 138 (2). A washing-machine comprises a rotary pulsator 7 located at the bottom of a container 1 and having a number of peripheral recesses 20, the pulsator being adapted simultaneously to stir the washing liquid and to produce therein alternate zones of relatively low and high pressure, and being provided with passageways 21 for admitting air into the low-pressure zones at the bases of the recesses 20. The pulsator 7 comprises two circular discs 17, 18 interconnected by ribs 19 and mounted on a hollow shaft 6 rotated by a motor 9 through a belt and pulleys 10, 12. Air is supplied through a pipe 14 provided with an adjustable valve 15, and a heating fluid may be supplied through a pipe 16. The lower disc 18 may have openings 22 provided with downwardly projecting lips (Fig. 3, not shown) The container 1 has a double bottom 2, 3, the part 2 being perforated, and may be provided with a false perforated bottom 2. The pulsator 7 may be capped by a screen 8,

Feb. 17, 1959 J. DEMARET 2,

MEANS FOR WASHING AND THE LIKE OPERATIONS Filed June 21, 1955 INVENTOR JU LES DEMARET ATTORNEYS United States Patent ice MEANS FOR WASHING AND THE LIKE OPERATIONS Jules Demaret, Marcinelle, Belgium Application June 21, 1955, Serial N0. 516,901 Claims priority, application Belgium June 29, 1954 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-----183) I Various and very different means have already been proposed for washing and the like operations, chiefly for the washing of textile material or of domestic utensils; all these methods resort to the same basic principle consisting in setting the articles of material to be Washed in the presence of a moving liquid medium.

The machines which are the most generally used for this purpose provide for the movement of the liquid medium and of the articles to be washed when hanging freely in the said liquid medium through a mechanical stirring, for instance by means of beaters or the like stirring means. This stirring has also been produced through hydraulic means, for instance through a circulat ing pump, a syphon or the like means.

Lastly, it has been proposed recently to submit the liquid medium to movement by means of micro-vibrations or of supersonic vibrations.

In all these cases, the mass of liquid carrying the washing and scouring products is set in motion and held in the presence of the products or of articles to 'be treated in a manner such that said treatment is performed exclusively through the mechanical stresses and through the action of the treating products whereby the liquid medium is polluted gradually as the treatment pro gresses; consequently, at the end of the operation and whatever known means are applied, the treated or washed products remain always immersed at the end of the operation in the aqueous medium which is polluted to a maximum. Thus, any steps resorted to for economiz- 2,873,600 Patented Feb. 17, 1959 theliquid mass and that the combination of the mixing,

under the conditions and in the form described, with the stirring of the liquid mass produces surprisingly the celluler state referred to hereinabove.

Through this novel method, it is thus possible to introduce into the actual washing or treating step and in addition to the mechanical stirring action and to the physicochemical action produced by the treating substances, a supplementary predominant action due to the actual characteristic features of said persistent cellular mass and i i also further chemical elfects such as an oxidation as provided for instance by the air introduced under the conditions disclosed.

Independently of' this further action adapted to activate, increase or improve the washing or the like steps,

i it is possible to resort to the rising component in said persistent cellular mass with a view to modifying substantially the modus operandi of the washing operation. As a matter of fact, I have found that by reason of its actual nature, said cellular mass is particularly well adapted for retaining the impurities carried by the maing water, treating products and heat can only lead to a detrimental result as concerns the grade of treatment and conversely this grade can be improved only 'by giving up any attempt to reach such an economy in water, treating products and heat.

This invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out anovel method according to which the actual washing step is produced in a medium which is at the start of an aqueous nature and is then totally or partly transformed into a mass having a cellular structure with a high-consistency, which is neither froth nor an emulsion but a special state of the liqiud matter, the specific weight of which is less than that of the original liquid mass whereby the original stirring is automatically reduced while said cellular mass assumes in combination with the stirring movement a comparatively low but constant rising movement. This special state is produced through the introduction into the aqueous medium in which the articles to be washed are immersed of a gasiform fluid such as; air under very particular conditions disclosed hereinafter. As a matter of fact, it may be easily proved that the mere blowing of air is inoperative, when provided under any pressure, at any point of the vat and through any means.

According to my improved method, the gasiform fluid is introduced into the aqueous medium through the rotary member which produces therein the desired mechanical stirring and the streams of gasiform fluid are terial or article to be washed. Now, this rising component in the cellular mass brings automatically said im-- purities to the surface of the mixture in the vat. It is therefore. advisable to introduce into the washing procedure a further step which consists in removing periodically the upper fraction of the cellular mass and conse.

quently also the impurities contained in the latter.

- Through such simple means, the medium in which the products to be washed are immersed is held in a comparatively clean state such that it is possible to reach with an extremely small expense of water, washing prod nets and heat, a grade of Washing which is higher than that obtained through the conventional means.

This economy is amazing, taking into account the fact that a lye i. e., a persistent cellular mass of 15 to 16 litres of water contained in a vat having a hydrotimetric grade of 23 requires with my improved procedure only 5; grammes of the conventional commercially sold cleaning powder.

. This novel method is adapted to be applied systematically in a perfectly controlled manner through the agency of special machines which form also the object of this invention.

This washing machine includes in combination with and inside a vat at least one rotary member, for instance of the pulsator type, said arrangement being such as will produce within the liquid mass areas submitted to a reduced pression followed by higher pressure areas while it alsoallows the introduction of a' gasiform fluid, genenerally air, in the form of a plurality of streams leading. to said areas submitted to a reduced pressure as provided by, the. suction produced through said areas. The air insuitably outlined peripheral recesses which are directly connected with the bore in said hollow shaft whereby the rotation of said pulsator member produces inside the liquid mass successive areas submitted to low pressure and to high pressure; the air streams drawn into the machine revolve together with the pulsator member and enter always the liquid massthrough the low pressure areas. Said special pulsator member may obviously be executed in substantially different forms which allow its suitable adaptation for various purposes. Similarly, said rotary pulsator member may be-located' at different pointsof the vat and, for certain applications; it is possible to set inside the vat a plurality of such rotary members.

A preferred embodiment is disclosed with further de tail hereinafter, reference being made to accompanying drawings given by way of a mere exemplificati'on and wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic radial cross-section of this" improved washing machine.

Figure 2 is a plan view, partly sectional, of the pressure reducing pulsator member.

Figure 3'- is a cross-section through line II-IIII' of Figure 2.

The washing machine according to the invention in cludes thus a vat 1 provided with a double conical concave bottom 2-3 the upper wall 2 of which isperforated' at 4. A false perforated bottom 5 may in certain cases be provided above said frusto-conical bottom 2'--3. Through the central portion of the latter is provided an opening in which the rotary pulsator member is fitted. The latter is constituted for instance by a hollow shaft 6 to which is secured the actual pulsator member 7 which latter is optionally capped by a screen 8. Saidpulsator member is adapted to be driven into rotation at a high speed by an electric motor 9 through the agency of a pulley 10 keyed to the axis of the motorof abelt 11 and of a pulley 12 secured either directly to the hollow shaft.

6-or else as illustratedin Figure 1 to a sleeve 13 rigid with the pulsator member 7 coaxially withsaid shaft. The hollow shaft 6 communicates with an air intake 14 extending for instance above the upper edge of the vat 1. This air intake may be provided with a throughout-adjusting and closing valve 15, the flap or cover of which may be perforated or otherwise designed so as to provide apassage for the pipe 16 feeding for instance a heating. fluid.

The actual pulsator member 7 is constituted as shown in Figures 2 and 3 by two parallel flanges 1-7 and 18 rigidly interconnected by radial or approximately radial ribs 19 defining recesses 20 facing outwardly. The bottom of each recess 20 opens into at least one tangential or approximately tangential passageway 21 opening in: its turn into the hollow shaft 6; Opening into each recess 20 on the downstream side of the opening end of'each channel 21 may be provided a further channel 22- passing through the lower flange 18. Said suitably outlined passageway 22 terminates with a lip 23 projecting underneath the flange 18. The ribs 19 are bounded by arcuatesurfaces having forwardly convex outlines meeting near the outer periphery of the pulsator.

The cooperation of the different novel features of this pulsator member provides for the systematic. change in the state of the liquid medium as disclosed hereinabove. Said state is perfectly reversible so that it may be. produced, and destroyed almost instantaneously, by opening or closingthe air intake 14.

Independently of the fact that the washing. operation is 4 enhanced by this invention while the economy ofwater, of washing products and of heat is substantially increased, I obtain through this invention a truly novel washing procedure. This procedure consists in introducing into the vat 1 of the machine the desired amount of water, washing products and articles to be washed. The motor 9 is then started while the air intake 14 is transiently closed. This produces consequently a first mechanical stirring with a view to producing a proper mixing; this being done, and the pulsator member being rotated, the air intake 14 is opened and it is found that the state of the aqueous medium is almost instantaneously changed so that said medium forms now a cellular mass having a high consistency which is submitted to a consequently greatly reduced stirring having an upwardly directed component; after some time, the upper layer of said cellular mass may be skimmed off while the impurities carried by it are removed at the same time, said impurities being those originally contained in the articles to be washed. This skimming operation may be repeated" several times according to the nature of the articles to be washed and chiefly according: to the degree" of soiling of said articles. It is found under such conditions that not only the washing is performed under muchmore economical. conditions. but alsov at a higher speed and with a much greater eificiency. As' a matter of fact and in contradistinction with the procedure in all prior washing machines, the aqueous medium remains in a state of comparative cleanliness which is quite a novelty in thetechnique of. washing.

My invention covers obviously all the applications and all the embodiments of my improved methodand machine and all the equivalent methods and machines within the: scope of the accompanying. claim.

What I claim is:

A washing machine comprising a vat adapted to be filled with an aqueous medium and to contain the articles to be washed, a pulsator member having a vertical axis, a hollow shaft coaxially rigid with the. pulsator member, a bent air intake pipe, means through which. said intake pipe communicates with the bore in said shaft, an ex tension for said air intake pipe extending up to a point. above the uppermost level of the aqueous medium in the vat and opening into the atmosphere, an; adjustable closing member for the upper end of said extension, a pipe adapted to convey a heating fluid in heat exchanging re.-' lationship with said closing. member, means for rotating said pulsator member round its vertical axis to stir the aqueous medium inside the vat and to produce at itsperiphery a succession of alternatingly high and low pres-- sure areas in said medium, means extending through the rotary member and adapted to feed. the air admitted through the bore in the shaft into the; differentlowpressure areas. and means controlling. the input of said air into last mentioned means.

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